Upholstery panel



Aug- 6, 1963 I l. FEINRMAN 3,099,892

UPHOLSTERY PANEL Filed March 29, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 6, 1963 l. FEINERMAN 3,099,892

UPHOLSTERY PANEL Filed March 29, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 6, w63 1. Fr-:lNERMAN UPHOLSTERY PANEL 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 29, 1962 INVENTOR. /lel///G- FE//E/?/V/V BY mii 62 ATTORNE ys www@ .56);

United States Patent O 3,099,82 UPHLSTERY PANEL lrving Feiner-man, San Mateo, Calif., assigner to Jack Feinerman, New London, Conn.` Filed Mar. 29, 1962, Ser. No. 185,584 9 Claims. (Cl. 5--l38) The present invention relates generally to furniture upholstery and specifically to an approved upholstery panel. The panel is particularly useful in furniture having upholstery panels incorporating a series of individual abutting pillows of the type commonly designated as brick or biscuit upholstery. This is a continuation in part of my copending application Serial No. 33,508, tiled on lune 2, 1960 entitled, Upholstery Panel and Method of Manufacture, now abandoned.

Both brick and biscuit upholstery incorporates upholstery panels having a series of longitudinally arranged individual cushions, usually of rectangular shape. When successive longitudinal rows of pillows are positioned such that the dividing lines between successive pillows are aligned in a transverse direction, the upholstery is categorized as biscuit upholstery. When the longitudinally arranged rows are positioned with respect to each other such that the dividing line between each pillow is not aligned in a transverse direction with the dividing line between successive pillows of the adjacent row, the upholstery is normally termed brick upholstery. The present invention is speciiically concerned with a new upholstery panel to produce this brick or biscuit effect and with a method of manufacturing the same.

Brick and biscuit upholstery designs produce furniture items having a great deal of esthetic appeal and which are therefore highly desirable to the furniture purchasing public. However, furniture incorporating these designs has heretofore involved highly expensive manufacturing costs which have placed good quality embodiments of brick and biscuit design furniture out of the reach of the mass purchasing public.

The best of the prior methods of manufacturing brick or biscuit upholstery construction was to manufacture a mold for forming a solid foam rubber cushion having a series of narrow vertical and horizontal depressions formed therein, the upholstery fabrics being placed thereon in an appropriate manner. The tremendous expense of such a manufacturing procedure will be best appreciated upon consideration of the high cost of manufacturing individual molds for each and every individual style and size of cushion which is to be manufactured. Further, it should be recognized that the cost of the molds dictates that such a method may be used only when a great number of articles of furniture of one particular design and size are to be made.

Other techniques for forming brick or biscuit upholstery construction have been utilized, but each of the alternate methods included disadvantages concerning either the quality of the finished product or the prohibitively high cost of manufacture. One of the other methods is to take a solid block of foam rubber and cut narrow slots therein to delineate the borders between each of the individual pillows of the biscuit or brick panel. In addition to the relatively high cost of the material used in this technique, the finished product is decient in that tearing occurs at the base of each of the slots due to the weak structural strength of the cut foam ice rubber. The use of rubberized hair has also been attempted to achieve brick and biscuit upholstery construction by cutting into a solid body of rubberized hair to achieve the bounderies between individual pillows. However, this technique produced a linished product having a cushion which was too hard to meet with the approval of the purchasing public.

Furthermore, in each of the prior art methods, after the formation of the basic unit, it was then necessary to cover the panel With an upholstery material. The expense involved in this operation, including the high labor costs due to the necessary use of skilled labor, was added to the relatively high cost of producing the basic panel.

`lt is the object of the present invention to eliminate one or more of the aforementioned disadvantages of known upholstery constructions. Specifically, it is the object of the present invention to provide an improved upholstery panel.

It is further within the contemplation of the present invention to provide an improved upholstery panel of brick or biscuit construction which does not require a great deal of time for the manufacture thereof and which employs relatively inexpensive materials.

It is further within the contemplation of the present invention -to provide a novel form of brick or biscuit upholstery panel adapted to be made at low cost and to utilize waste materials.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a furniture upholstery panel which is adapted to be constructed in a variety of differing shapes therefore providing a contoured surface to the upholstery panel.

It is a further object to provide a panel which may be constructed with a minimum of materials and labor and which may be applied directly -to an article of furniture without the requirement of further covering the panel with a further layer or layers of material.

In general, it is the object of the present invention to provide a biscuit or brick furniture upholstery panel of generally superior qualities.

In accordance with a rst illustrative embodiment demonstrating features of the present invention, there is provided an upholstery panel lincluding a backing and a front panel having a series of longitudinally aligned individual pillows formed therein. Each of the individual pillows is provided with a front face and depending side walls. The :front panel is secured to the backing along the lower edges of the depending side Walls thus forming a series of longitudinally aligned individual abutting pillows. Several rows of these pillows may be secured in parallel alignment to the backing, each of the pillows in the upholstery panel being stuffed with granular stufling material.

In a seco-nd illustrative embodiment which demonstrates features of the present invention there is provided an upholstery panel which includes a backing and a front panel having formed therein a series of individual abutting pillows. Each of the pillows is formed with a front face and depending side walls and the front panel is secured to the backing alo-ng the lower edges of the depending side walls. The side walls are approximately perpendicular to the backing, however, the depending side walls of one or more of the longitudinally aligned pillows are of a greater height than the respective opposite side Wall of that pillow Ithereby providing la pillow Whose 3 front face is not parallel to the backing of the upholstery panel. A row of suclh shaped pillows is provided which results in =a contoured furniture upholstery panel. Each of the pillows in the upholstery panel is appropriately stued with a granular material.

As a further feature, the front panel may be formed directly ,from the upholstery fabric which is to form the finished outer surface of the article of furniture. With the use of such fabric or leather or the like as the front panel, the upholstery panel may be secured directly to the frame of -the furniture without the requirement of additional upholsteng operations.

The above brief description, as well as further objects, features .and advantages of the present invention will be -best appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of Ithree presently preferred embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an upholstery panel made in accordance with the .teachings of the present invention and showing portions thereof broken away and in phantom to illustrate the process of manufacture thereof;

PIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the panel illustrated in |FIG. 1 and taken along the line 2 2 of FIG. 1 `and looking in the direction of the arrows;

` FIG. 3 is a plan View of the pattern used to construct the frontpanel of the upholstery panel illustrated in FIG. 1;

`FIG. 4 is a side elevational View of another embodiment of the presen-t invention illustrating an upholstery panel adapted for use as the backing of a contoured chair;

FIG. 5 is a perspective View of a back of a contoured chair employing ythe upholstery panel illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan View of the pattern used to form part of the front panel of the upholstery panel illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an upholstery panel similar .to that shown in FIG. 1 but having a front panel formed directly of the material which is to constitute the outer surface of an article of furniture;

FIG. 8 is a rear plan view of the upholstery panel shown in |FIG. 7 illustrati' g the sewing and tacking points employed; and,

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 10-10 in FIG. 7 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 an upholstery panel, generally designated by the numeral 10, which incorporates features of the present invention. The panel 10 is composed of a burlap backing 12 upon which is secured a front panel 14 constructed of muslin or the like. The front panel may alternatively be constructed `of a finishing material such as an upholstery fabric or leather or the like to provide a nis-hed surface vfor the upholstery panel as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 9 and described below. The illustrative embodiment shown in FIG. 1 hasa series of longitudinal aligned pillows, in this illustrative case three pillows are shown and are generally indicated as P1, P2 and P3. Each of the pillows P1, P2 and P3 has a front face 16 and depending side walls 1S, 20, 22 and 24, the front face and depending side walls of P1 being the Ionly ones specifically indicated by numerals in FIG. l for the sake of clarity. Extending at right angles from .the depending side walls 1S, 20, 22 there are provided integral mounting borders 26 by which the front panel 14 is secured to the backing 12 by the stitches S. 'The side edges of each of the side walls 18, 20, 22, 24 are joined .to the edge of the adjacent side wall, as indicated by the stitching at 28, in order to form, in this illustrative case, substantially rectangular pillows P.

As best seen in the sectional view of FIG. 2, the completed pillows P1, P2, P3, are stuffed with an appropriate material, such as shredded `foam rubber, shredded polyester fiber, Daeron or the like, which is generally indicated by the numeral 30. It is to be appreciated of course, that any suitable stuffing material is within the contemplation of the present invention and fur-ther, it is to be appreciated that the above described construction allowed for the use of shredded materials resulting from waste products (such as waste foam rubber) which has, in the past, been disposed of as unusable.

lIn FIG. 3 there is shown the pattern 141 from which the front panel 14 is formed. FIG. 3 may also be viewed as hthe shape of the top panel 14 before the corner seam stitching 28 is made and lbefore the panel 14 is joined to the backing 12. The individual portions of the pattern 141 for the front panel 14 are indicated by numerals corresponding to those used to designate the similar portions on the front panel 14, but distinguished therefrom -by `the use of the subscript l. Accordingly, the pattern 141 consists of a series of longitudinally aligned pillows P11, P21, P31 each having top vface 161 and depending side walls 181, 201, 221 and 241. Extending from the depending side walls 181, 201 and 221 are integrally formed mounting borders 261.

ln order yto :best appreciate the advantages of the presen-t invention, reference should be made to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 in conjunction with the followingdesoription of the manufacture of the upholstery panel 10 illustrated therein.

As the first step in the manufacturing of upholstery panel lil, a burlap sheet or other Ibacking material is formed into the backing 12 which is substantially the size of the finished upholstery panel to be formed. Use is then made of a pattern such as pattern 141 illustrated in FIG. 3 for forming of the front panel 14 which in this illustrative embodiment is constructed of muslin. The front panel 14 is formed with a series of longitudinally extending pillows P1, P2, P3 each of which includes a top face 16 :and depending side walls 18, 20, 22, 24. Mounting borders 26 .are formed integrally with .the depending side walls of each pillow at those walls which border the edge of the backing 12. After the front panel 14 of the upholstery panel 12 has been cut to the proper shape,.the individual pillows P1, P2, P3 are formed by joining the adjacent edges of the depending side walls 18, 20, 22, 24, :as indicated by the corner seamstitching 28 shown in FIG. 1. It will ybe appreciated that there has been now formed Ia backing 12 fand a front panel 14 which includes individual pillows having the shape of the iinished upholstery panel 10.

The front panel 14-.is then joined to the Aburlap backing 12 by stitching the mounting borders 26 Ito the backing 12 as generally indicated at S in FIG. l. llt should be appreciated that the stitches S Iare not made completely raround each pillow. Openings are left at selected points between the lbacking -12 and fthe front panel 14. Specifically, the front panel 14 is stitched to the backing 12 all around each individual pillow P as for example, around the whole length of the mounting border 26 of P1 and at vthe Ibase of the `depending intern-al wall 24 with the exception of the central portions of the walls 20 and 24. A space of one or two inches is left unstitched in this area for reasons which will 'become clear as this description of the process of manufacture continues. Thus, in this present illustrative case, there are small openings left in the stitching S at the wall 2t) of the pillow P1, at the walls 24, 20 -between pillows P1 and P2 and .the walls 24, 20 between the pillows P2 :and P3.

After the front panel 16 has been secured to the backing 12 as described above, the stufhng material 30 is successively placed into each of the pillows P3, P2, P1. The stuling material 30 is blown into the individual pillows P of the upholstery panel 10 by a blower mechanism which terminates in a nozzle N illustrated in full line on the left in FIG. l :and in phantom at various other positions. The blower mechanism employed is fully described in United States Patent No. 2,725,927, issued -to J. Feinerman on December 6, 1955, and entitled, Article of Upholstery and Method of Making the Same. It is sufficient to note that the nozzle N is fed by a power blower with `a stream of fair in which is cried the stuffing material 3%) to be deposited within each of the pillows P. As diagranimatically indicated in PIG. l, the nozzle N is inserted between the backing 12 and the front panel 14 at the openings in the stitcher S which were left, as described above. The nozzle N is tirst inserted underneath the wall 20, through the lirst pillow P1, through the opening in the wall 24 of the pillow P1 and into pillow P2, `and is further similarly passed into pillow P3. The power blower is activated and the stung material 30 is allowed to pass through `the nozzle N and into the pillow P3. It will be appreciated that by use of the air blowing system the stuing material 3l) will ll up the pillow P3 and will be packed therein to a -degree governed by the amount of pressure supplied through 4the nozzle N. When the proper amount of stuffing 3@ has been `deposited in pillow P3, no more stung 3i) will be received therein. After pillow P3 is iilled, the nozzle N is `drawn out of the pillow P3 and the stuffing process continues in pillow P2. When the stuliing of the pillow P2 has been completed, the nozzle N is withdrawn from pillow P2 and the tip thereof remains in pillow P1 which is then lled with the stuing material 313. After pillow P1 has received its full supply of sniffing Sil, .the nozzle N is entirely withdrawn from the panel 19. The opening that remains at the end of Ithe pillow P1 yat the base of the depending side wall 2i) is then closed by any suitable means. In this illustrative ernbodirnent wire staples 32 are shown closing the end. Although staples 32 are shown at the opening between the pillows P1 Iand P2, it will be appreciated that it is not necessary to 4seal this opening -as the stuing within the pillows P1, P2 causes a sharp fold to be made between the abutting end walls of pillows P1 and P2 which is effective to securely seal the opening between the two pillows and the base 12.

Reference will now be made to FIGS. 4, land 6 for a description of a second illustrative embodiment demonstrating features of the present invention. In FIGS. 4 and 5 .there are shown a side Iand a perspective View respectively of the upholstered back 40 of a contour seat employing a biscuit or brick construction in accordance with the present invention. It will be `appreciated that the contoured upholstery panel 4@ is constructed in the same general manner Aas described above in connection with the upholstery panel 1G with the exception that the contoured panel 41B is composed of 9 individual pillows P and that the individual pillows P have depending side walls which are not all of uniform height therefore providing :a shaped pillow effect. Specifically, it will be seen from FIGS. 4 land 5 that the con-toured upholstery panel 4d is rectangular in shape and includes nine individual pillows P arranged in three rows of pillows each. As shown in the drawings, pillow P19 is tat the upper left band corner of the panel ed, pillow P11 being positioned below pillow Pill. Pillow P12 is below pillow P11 and positioned at the lower left-hand corner of the contoured upholstery panel 4d, Similarly, pillow P13 is at the top center of the panel all with pillows P14 and P15 therebelow. Pillow P16 is at the upper left-hand corner of the panel 49 with pillows P17 `and P13 positioned therebelow. The pillows P may be constructed of a muslin material similar to the front panel 14 described in connection with the upholstery panel 1li, or may be formed of a nished upholstery material as shown in FIG. 7. The pillows P are mounted upon abacking 42 Iwhich in turn is mounted upon a rigid back support 44 as shown.

The illustrated panel il is composed of three separate rows of parallel pillows, each row of which is made of a separate front panel. It should be noted that it is within the contemplation of the present invention to provide a panel such as panel il which is constructed out of a single front panel, however, for clarity of illustra- 6 tion, panel il is constructed of three separate front panels and is so illustnated.

l'Ihe contoured upholstery panel `lll dilfers from the panel 10 in one further respect. In addition to there ,being a greater number of individual pillows P, it will be noted that the individual pillows P of the panel 40 are not uniform in thickness. Specifically, whereas in the upholstery panel 1l) described above, the top face 16 of each pillow P was parallel to the backing 12 and each of the depending side walls 18, Ztl, 22, 24- was of an equal height, the pillows P in the contour panel 40 have front faces 46 which are not necessarily panallel to the plane of the backing 42. For example, examination of FIGS. 4 and 5 reveals that pillow P11)l has a nonuniform side wall 48 on its left side as viewed from fthe front, and a noneunifo-rm top wall 59. The side wall 48 is formed such that its height is greater :at the upper end thereof` than the lower end, thereby being eiective to increase the distance between the backing 42 and the face d5y at the upper portions of the pillow P10 and to decrease that distance at the lower corner thereof. Examination of the shape of the top wall 5t) will reveal that the height of the wall 5U is greater at its leftmost extremity and is shonter at the right hand side of the pillow P10 thereby raising the left portion of the pillow and lowering the right portion thereof. It ywill be appreciated that the other two depending walls of the pillow P16 are appropriately formed such that the pillow P10 is of a greater depth at its upper left hand corner than at any of the other three corners and that it is at its most shallow depth at the lower right hand corner thereof.

Examination of the ovenall shape ot the contoured upholstery panel 4() :as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, will reveal that each ot the pillows P is formed such that the panel lil produces a contoured eiect applicable for use as the backing of an upright chair. The shape of the contour panel 40 conforms to that which would be rn-ost appropriate for receiving the back of a person as he sits in a chair. It will be appreciated that the need for expensive conventional upholstery baclks which require a series of springs of varying sizes and care-fully hand crafted cushions to achieve dillerent heights of the upholstery material are eliminated by the use of this above described contoured upholstery panel.

It should be further appreciated that the method of manufacturing the contoured upholstery panel 49 is similar to that described above in detail in connection with the upholstery panel 10. rIlhe pattern 54 is utilized to cut out the muslin for the shaping of pillows P16, P11 and P12. Appropriate patterns are constructed for cotting pillows P13, P14 and P15 and pillows P16, P17 and P18. The muslin material for the pillows P is then stitched onto the backing 42 :and the pillows P are lthen filled with the stuffing material 3d by means tot la nozzle N as described above in detail.

Referring now to FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 there is shown a further embodiment `of the present invention wherein the front panel of the upholstery panel is formed of a material which constitutes the finished external surface of the article of furniture upon which .the panel is placed. Speciically, rather than using muslin as the front panel, which requires a further covering with upholstery material, the upholstery panel is constructed of a backing and a front panel formed of the finished upholstery material, be its fabric, leather or some other material.

In FIG. 7 there is illustrated an upholstery panel 60 having a backing 162 land a front panel generally designated by the numeral `64. The front panel 64 is formed to include, in this illustrative embodiment, nine separate pillows herein designated P16` through P18. The front panel 64 is formed in a manner similar to that described above in connection with front panel .14 of the upholstery panel y10 illustrated in PIG. 1. `Each of the individual pillows P is formed with a front face and four depending side walls. 'Ilhe front panel 64 may be formed of three nofws of 'three individual panels or may be alternatively manufactured as fone separate, continuous unit. A mounting border 66 is provided at the edge of the panel similar to the mounting border 26 on panel 10, by means of which the upholstery panel 6o may be secured to an article of furniture.

It has been found that where a continuous fron-t panel such as 64 is formed it is unnecessary to secure all portions of the lower edges of the various side walls to the backing. Thus, las seen in FIG. 8, .the upholstery panel 60 is formed by joining the iront panel 64 to the backing 62 'by means of stitching S formed substantially around Ithe edges of the unit and in addition by Stitches at the tacking points T at the corner intersections of four adjacent pillows. As may be `seen in FIG. 9, the lower portions of the side walls of Ithe respective pillows maintain their position adjacent the backing 62 simply by means of the stiffness of the material, the stitches S at the periphery of the panel tand the tacking at the points T. Furthermore, the provision of stuffing material 30 within the conines of each individual pillow P makes the panel V6) suiciently stiff such that the side Walls of the respective pillows P maintain their proper orientation.

The provision of a front panel, such as panel 64, constructed `of the `finished upholstery material, in combination with the backing and stung material, produces an upholstery ypanel which is a completely finished upholstery assembly ready for application 4to an article of furniture. It will be appreciated that panel 6I? as illustrated in FIG. 7 may be secured to the back frame of an article of furniture in order to form a nished upholstered back fwithout the requirements of any further upholstery steps, other than the minor trimming and edging which may be dictated 4by the particular design of the chair. The upholstery panel 66 may be constructed entirely on a bench utilizing mass 'production techniques. There is no requirement for detailed and skilled hand labor in the molding and forming of nished upholstery fabric on the chair as was required by prio-r known techniques.

A latitude v'of modification, change and substitution is intended in the foregoing disclosure and in some instances some features ofthe invention will be employed rwithout a corresponding use or" other features. Accordingly, it is appropriate .that che appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the spirit and scope of the invention herein.

What I claim is:

l. A stuffed upholstery panel comprising a backing of relatively stiff material at least as large as said panel, a preformed front panel formed of a relatively flexible material including a series of longitudinally aligned individual pillows, each pillow having a rectangular front face and depending side Walls interconnected at their respective adjacent edges, adjacent pillows eing interconnected at the lower edge of their respective adjacent side walls, said side walls along the exterior edges of said front panel having mounting borders, said front panel being secured to said backing along said mounting borders, and stuing material contained within said individual pillows to form a completed upholstery panel of adjacent individual rectangular pillows.

2. A stuffed upholstery panel comprising a backing of relatively stiff material at least as large as said panel, a preformed front panel formed of a relatively ilexible material including a series of longitudinally aligned individual pillows, each pillow having a rectangular front face and depending side walls, adjacent pillows being inte connected at the lower edge of their respective adjacent side Walls, said side walls along the exterior edges of said front panel having mounting borders, said front panel being Vsecured to said backing along said mounting borders, and stuing material contained with-in said individual pillows to form a completed upholstery panel of adjacent individual rectangular pillows.

3. An upholstery assembly comprising a plurality of stuffed upholstery panels as defined by claim 2 wherein a plurality of individual stuffed upholstery panels are positioned in parallel alignment to form a completed biscuit upholstery assembly.

4. A stuffed upholstery panel comprising a backing of relatively stiff material at least as large as said panel, a preformed front panel formed of a relatively flexible material including a series of longitudinally aligned individual pillows, each pillow having a rectangular front face and four depending side walls, adjacent pillows being interconnected at the lower edge of their respective adjacent `side walls, the adjacent edges of the side walls of each of said pillows being secured together to forni together with said front face ve faces of a pillow surface, said side walls along the exterior edges of said front panel having mounting borders, said front panel being secured to said backing along said mounting borders to form with said backing completed pillows having `six faces, and stufling material contained within said individual pillows `to form a completed upholstery panel of adjacent individual rectangular pillows.

5. An upholstery assembly comprising a plurality of stuffed upholstery panels as defined by claim 4 wherein the individual pillows of said panels are positioned 4in rectilinear alignment to form a completed biscuit upholstery assembly.

6. A stuiied upholstery panel comprising a backing of relatively stiff material, a preformed front panel forme-d of a relatively flexible material including a plurality of individual pillows, each of said pillows having a front face and depending side walls, mounting borders formed at the lower edge of said side walls along at least a portion of the exterior edges of said front panel, said front panel being secured to said backing along said mounting border, and `stuffing material contained within said individual pillows to form a completed upholstery panel of individual adjacent pillows.

7. A stuffed upholstery panel comprising a backing of relatively stii material, a preformed front panel formed of a relatively ilexible material including -a plurality of individual pillows, each of said pillows having a front face and depending side walls, adjacent pillows Vbeing interconnected at the lower edge of their respective adjacent side walls, mounting borders formed at the lower edge of said side Walls along at least -a portion of the exterior edges of said front panel, said front panel being secured to said backing along said mounting border, and stuffing material contained within said individual pillows to form a completed upholstery panel of individual adjacent pillows.

8. A stuffed upholstery panel for application to an article of furniture comprising a backing, a preformed front panel, Iand stuiing material, said preformed front panel formed of an upholstery material and having formed therein a series of longitudinally aligned individual pillows, each of said pillow having a rectangular front face and depending side walls interconnected at their respective adjacent edges, adjacent pillows being interconnected at the lower edge of their respective adjacent side walls, said side walls along the exterior edges of said front panel having mounting borders, said front panel being secured `to said backing along said mounting borders, said stuiling material contained within said individual pillows to form a completed upholstery panel of adjacent individual rectangular pillows, said upholstery panel being mountable along said borders on said article of furniture with said front panel forming the external upholstery material facing for said article of furniture.

9. A stuffed upholstery panel `comprising a backing, a preformed front panel, and stui'ling material, said preformed front panel formed of an upholstery material adapted to serve as finished upholstery surface for an article of furniture and having formed therein a series of long'tudinally aligned individual pillows, each pillow having a front face land depending side walls interconlneeted at their respective adjacent edges, adjacent pillows being interconnected at the lower edge of their respective adjacent side walls, said side walls along the exterior edges of said front panel having mounting borders, said front panel being secured to said backing along said mounting borders, said stuing material contained Within said individual pillows to form a completed upholstery panel of adjacent individual rectangular pillows, said upholstery panel being mountable `along said borders on an article of furniture with said front panel forming the external upholstery material facing for said article of furniture.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,170,382 Kiesler Aug. 22, 1939 2,256,939 Copeland Sept. 23, 194l 2,528,768 Marsh Nov. 7, 1950 2,725,927 Feinerman Dec. 6, 1955 

1. A STUFFED UPHOLSTERY PANEL COMPRISING A BACKING OF RELATIVELY STIFF MATERIAL AT LEAST AS LARGE AS SAID PANEL, A PREFORMED FRONT PANEL FORMED OF A RELATIVELY FLEXIBLE MATERIAL INCLUDING A SERIES OF LONGITUDINALLY ALIGNED INDIVIDUAL PILLOWS, EACH PILLOW HAVING A RECTANGULAR FRONT FACE AND DEPENDING SIDE WALLS INTERCONNECTED AT THEIR RESPECTIVE ADJACENT EDGES, ADJACENT PILLOWS BEING INTERCONNECTED AT THE LOWER EDGE OF THEIR RESPECTIVE ADJACENT SIDE WALLS, SAID SIDE WALLS ALONG THE EXTERIOR EDGES OF SAID FRONT PANEL HAVING MOUNTING BORDERS, SAID FRONT PANEL BEING SECURED TO SAID BACKING ALONG SAID MOUNTING BORDERS, AND STUFFING MATERIAL CONTAINED WITHIN SAID INDIVIDUAL PILLOWS TO FORM A COMPLETED UPHOLSTERY PANEL OF ADJACENT INDIVIDUAL RECTANGULAR PILLOWS. 